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Fisherian runaway: Difference between revisions
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== Mechanism == | == Mechanism == | ||
[[File:Peacock courting peahen.jpg|alt=|thumb|"The females may be dull looking, but they're very picky." A peacock courting a peahen]] | [[File:Peacock courting peahen.jpg|alt=|thumb|"The females may be dull looking, but they're very picky." A peacock courting a peahen]] | ||
Females/males become more choosy about a heritable trait for the simple reason that other females/males find the trait attractive. As the selective pressure for females/males to prefer the trait increases so too does the selective pressure for females/males to produce the trait, creating a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_feedback_loop positive feedback loop]. In response to the increased choosiness, males and females evolve to enlarge, overcomplicate or beautify that trait in efforts of becoming more attractive (larger dick size, larger breasts, etc.) The exponential nature of positive feedback loops leads to the inevitable conclusion, that the attractive trait eventually becomes comically unhealthy and [[Maladaptiveness|maladaptive]]. For example a man's dick becoming too long and large to fit inside the vagina, or a woman's breasts becoming so large and heavy the woman can no longer walk, and has to crawl, or be carried from point A to point B. These feedback loops in a stable environment do not become maladaptive for the entire species, because the comically unhealthy and [[Maladaptiveness|maladaptive]] individuals don't [[Reproductive success|reproduce]]. | Females/males become more choosy about a heritable trait for the simple reason that other females/males find the trait attractive. As the selective pressure for females/males to prefer the trait increases so too does the selective pressure for females/males to produce the trait, creating a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_feedback_loop positive feedback loop]. In response to the increased choosiness, males and females evolve to enlarge, overcomplicate or beautify that trait in efforts of becoming more attractive (larger dick size, larger breasts, etc.) The exponential nature of positive feedback loops leads to the inevitable conclusion, that the attractive trait eventually becomes comically unhealthy and [[Maladaptiveness|maladaptive]]. For example a man's dick becoming too long and large to fit inside the vagina, or a woman's breasts becoming so large and heavy the woman can no longer walk, and has to crawl, or be carried from point A to point B. These feedback loops in a stable environment do not become maladaptive for the entire species, because the comically unhealthy and [[Maladaptiveness|maladaptive]] individuals don't [[Reproductive success|reproduce]]. | ||
== Initiation == | == Initiation == | ||
Such feedback loops can be initiated by arbitrary aesthetic selection, but also when a trait is slightly correlated with fitness (e.g. health), or when a trait is similar in appearance to attractive or otherwise valuable objects or body parts.<ref>Fuller, R. C., Houle, D., & Travis, J. 2005. ''Sensory Bias as an Explanation for the Evolution of Mate Preferences.'' [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/444443 Abstract]], p. 444</ref> For example, women's breasts may have evolved to mimic their buttocks because the latter was already a sexually attractive body part before humans developed upright posture, and then Fisherian runaway may have lead to breasts becoming increasingly larger and increasingly attractive to men. | Such feedback loops can be initiated by arbitrary aesthetic selection, but also when a trait is slightly correlated with fitness (e.g. health), or when a trait is similar in appearance to attractive or otherwise valuable objects or body parts.<ref>Fuller, R. C., Houle, D., & Travis, J. 2005. ''Sensory Bias as an Explanation for the Evolution of Mate Preferences.'' [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/444443 Abstract]], p. 444</ref> For example, women's breasts may have evolved to mimic their buttocks because the latter was already a sexually attractive body part before humans developed upright posture, and then Fisherian runaway may have lead to breasts becoming increasingly larger and increasingly attractive to men. | ||